Great-gran knits Christmas sweaters for her whole family

2nd December 2013

The family of a great-grandmother is starting to reap the benefits of her project to knit Christmas sweaters for the lot of them in time for the festive season.

Doreen Gover, 78, started her huge challenge in January, but she got the idea in October 2012 when she knitted her son-in-law and daughter one of the on-trend garments each. They loved them so much that they posed for Christmas card photos in them and send them out to family and friends.

When everyone saw the finished effect, they wrote to Doreen asking if she would make one for them too - and the determined lady rose to the challenge, the Surrey Comet reports.

She dedicated 2013 to knitting up a storm and has now made 28 red woollen jumpers, all with matching snowman and reindeer designs.

Three generations of the family already have theirs, including Cookie the dog, and Doreen is hoping to have the last one finished off before it's time to carve turkey and pull crackers - ready for a triumphant family photo, no doubt.

The challenge has meant knitting one jumper every two weeks, which is a lot of colourful yarn used up and a huge amount of stitches wound over fast-moving needles!

Perhaps the news could inspire other crafters to make their own festive sweater in the coming days - and perhaps to take up a similar challenge in 2014.

Doreen didn't mention how many stitches she can notch up per minute, but it may be that she is edging close to the North American speed knitting record set in 2004 by Linda Benne from Toronto.

The Toronto Star reports that the Mississauga resident managed an incredible 253 stitches in three minutes, the equivalent of one-and-a-half stitches a second. That sort of speed would definitely come in handy when you have three generations of a family to make knitwear for.